Children's Commissioner gets tough on junk food ads

The Childrens Commissioner for England has urged the government to adopt a "rigorous" approach to imposing restrictions on junk food advertising.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Sir Al Aynsley-Green said he was firmly behind proposals to impose regulations preventing children from exposure to adverts which promote foods with high levels of salt, sugar or fat.

The comments emerged in the wake of a new report from the consumer magazine Which? indicating that the majority of programmes popular with the under ten age group, such as The X Factor, would not be affected by existing advertising restrictions.

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"Obesity is the most important issue that threatens the long-term health of our children today, so I have unreserved support for the conclusions from Which," he said.

"I challenge government and Ofcom to be much more rigorous in introducing this 9pm ban. This is a very important statement of intent and a signal of the intent to tackle this problem."

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